Level 1 "Bosses"?

[pangoo209]

I'm starting a new campaign with some players that I have never played for in the past, and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for a good boss for a group of 4 level 1 PCs. I'd really appreciate it. :smallsmile:

[BDRook]

I've found Ogres to be pretty good level 1 bosses. Although keep in mind at that level any hard hitting baddy could potentially TPK the group.

[Drackolus]

Might be better if these bosses be relatively weak but influential, so beating them isn't based on stats. A level 1 group can be easily killed by 3 kobolds that suprise the party. You can't really push them without breaking them. Wait until they're level 3. I usually level them up each session, so session 3 starts at level 3.

[Asmotherion]

I'd say not to have boss fights till level 3. I usually start campains at level 3 minimum, because till then, the characters have no real mechanics. 300 and 600 respective xp, for a total of 900 to go to level 3 can be handeled in the form of CR 1/4 and 1/8 critters that hoard a village the players are in. make them face a couple CR 1/4 monsters each time, and add more as they defeat them, to go to level 3 in one encounter. They can fight them individually (I've found that a level 1 experianced role player can handle a couple of CR 1 monsters, wile it can potentially be a deadly encounter for a newbie). or as a group, facing 2 CR 1/4 or 4 CR 1/8 for each member of the party. Atlernativelly, make them role play their way to Lv3 or set some easy milestones. Also, if you do intend to have a boss fight at Lv1, you'll probably need to give too much plot armor, which can become anoying... As a player, I personally prefear to earn my XP, even if it's at the safty of role-playing instead of being nosedraged in a scenario were I should have died and got saved by someone who just happened to be there, or know my DM is failing his attack rolls on purpose.

[N810]

Peasants with pitchforks and torches. :P

[Kalashak]

I just give one of the CR appropriate things more or max HP

[Calibus]

If you can accurately determine the skill of your players and their knowledge, a wizard and his goblin lackeys would be a good first step. Shield, lightning grasp, and burning hands should do well. Also try to show the wizards contempt of his own lackeys to emphasize he's a terrible person. Ie:burning hands his own goblins and the player characters. It's a great way to surprise the party and really kicks up the "this guy needs to die" vibe. A scroll of misty step is also a handy tool to make that "team rocket blasts off in the speed of light" vibe too if you want a reoccurring villain the players can love to hate.

[Zorku]

Level 1 characters tend to only have at-will abilities, so a challenging boss is somewhat meaningless.
Melee attack
Melee attack
Cantrip
Melee attack

There's no way to try harder, or stop holding back, so a "boss" just drains more hp. At level 1 any hp loss is likely to drop a character, so if you cause more hp loss you're just going to kill them.

As such, if you really want this, contrive a situation where it's something big and powerful (for level 1,) but the situation also forces it to hold back, even if that means a swift and obvious death.

[Asmotherion]

If you can accurately determine the skill of your players and their knowledge, a wizard and his goblin lackeys would be a good first step. Shield, lightning grasp, and burning hands should do well. Also try to show the wizards contempt of his own lackeys to emphasize he's a terrible person. Ie:burning hands his own goblins and the player characters. It's a great way to surprise the party and really kicks up the "this guy needs to die" vibe. A scroll of misty step is also a handy tool to make that "team rocket blasts off in the speed of light" vibe too if you want a reoccurring villain the players can love to hate.

No offence, but the wizard casting Burning Hands could go really ugly... like, on the (possible outcome) of all PCs being in the 15 foot cone, and the Wizard rolling 3 times 6 as a result, even the 17 HP Lv1 Barbarian is toast... The only one to survive it is a tiefling with it's fire resistance.

Also, Magic Missile makes sure the wizard can hit, and deals an average of half the PCs total HP at this level.

Add to that the fact he has goblin minions does not help the math either.

A wizard is too much for a Lv1 party, even D&D veterans would have trouble dealing with the challenge.

[Calibus]

No offence, but the wizard casting Burning Hands could go really ugly... like, on the (possible outcome) of all PCs being in the 15 foot cone, and the Wizard rolling 3 times 6 as a result, even the 17 HP Lv1 Barbarian is toast... The only one to survive it is a tiefling with it's fire resistance.

Also, Magic Missile makes sure the wizard can hit, and deals an average of half the PCs total HP at this level.

Add to that the fact he has goblin minions does not help the math either.

A wizard is too much for a Lv1 party, even D&D veterans would have trouble dealing with the challenge.

Burning hands is a dex save. And at level 1 npc it would probably be a DC 13 at most.

Shield spell could counter magic missile. And most physical characters can handle a 3d4+3 damage.

Goblins can be hp1-4 mooks just for making things interesting.

Crafty players would also attempt to reduce the spells slots of the wizard by forcing it to cast shield.

I've done this scenario before with a 3 man party of level 1s. It's not as difficult as you make it seem.

[Ruslan]

I found the Goblin Boss (same MM page as Goblins) to be pretty good.

[Calibus]

I found the Goblin Boss (same MM page as Goblins) to be pretty good.

Need a whole bunch of goblins to make it work. The thing with the goblin boss is that it should be the one doing damage. As a reaction it can swap places with another friendly unit within 5ft. This way it should be the last the third last dead. This is also hilarious if one of the player characters somehow gets charmed.

[Flashy]

Burning hands is a dex save. And at level 1 npc it would probably be a DC 13 at most.

Shield spell could counter magic missile. And most physical characters can handle a 3d4+3 damage.

Goblins can be hp1-4 mooks just for making things interesting.

Crafty players would also attempt to reduce the spells slots of the wizard by forcing it to cast shield.

I've done this scenario before with a 3 man party of level 1s. It's not as difficult as you make it seem.

I believe the point isn't the the encounter is hard, the point is that it's swingy. The wizard has a fair number of ways to accidentally kill a PC.

[Petrocorus]

A single Bugbear, or maybe a hobgoblin with 20 HP, plus maybe a wolf work quite well and is already challenging for a lvl 1 party.

[Ruslan]

Need a whole bunch of goblins to make it work.Of course. You can't spell "Goblin Boss" without "Goblins"!

[Sigreid]

I would recommend keeping track of XP or using some other means to help ensure that they have a good chance of hitting level 2 before encountering the boss Then a hobgoblin and his goblin body guards would work pretty well.

[Cespenar]

Just make it a fluff boss. Same Bandit chassis, for example, but this one stays behind, orders people around, tries to be smart, etc.

[rlc]

Or, use the NPCs at the end of the monster manual with your monsters' race. A bullywug bandit has a lower cr than a normal one, but it attacks at range when the rest of them don't. A sahuagin spy gets sneak attack pretty much every round.

[Aegis013]

I found the Goblin Boss (same MM page as Goblins) to be pretty good.


Need a whole bunch of goblins to make it work. The thing with the goblin boss is that it should be the one doing damage. As a reaction it can swap places with another friendly unit within 5ft. This way it should be the last the third last dead. This is also hilarious if one of the player characters somehow gets charmed.

I concur the goblin boss is good. However, instead of switching places my DM had it block attacks by grabbing other goblins by the scruff of the neck and using them as disposable shields. Certainly helped it feel Evil and ruthless.

[ST By Night]

Usually a minor spellcaster or a larger animal that is reasonably dangerous does the trick for me -- in my last game I used a goblin shaman who had resurrected a zombie and was keeping it on a collar and chain.